Brahm Resnik's journalism career has covered all media -- newspapers, the Web and TV (plus radio in college).

He is host of the 12 News "LunchCast" at noon every weekday, a fast-moving take on the day's top stories with newsmaker interviews and viewer reaction. Brahm also hosts "Sunday Square Off," the 12 News program for political junkies. Most recently, Brahm's reporting focus was on helping Valley residents cope with one of the worst job markets in the country in his "Jobs 911" reports.

Brahm covered the presidential campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain and has reported extensively on the budget crisis at Arizona's Capitol, the illegal immigration battle, and the sports industry.

Brahm jumped into TV in 2001 after more than 15 years in newspapers, where he led business news sections that won national awards for their coverage. He also wrote the popular "Money Minute" column for azcentral.com.

Brahm is a native of Montreal, Quebec. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and a bachelor's degree in English and history from McGill University in Montreal. He wife, Wendy, manages the teen library section at the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix. They have two sons.

Where we met: The school newspaper at McGill University.

Where we married: The Shakespeare Garden at Northwestern University, home to flowers, shrubs and trees in the Bard's plays.

What I sang at karaoke night on the cruise ship: L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole.

Why Arizona: A restaurant with a patio in January, Friday afternoon at the Waste Management Open in February, the scent of citrus blossoms in March, climbing Camelback Mountain in April, Sabino Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains in May, breakfast in the backyard in June -- are you seeing a theme here? -- the edge of the Grand Canyon in July, San Diego in August, the long, hot slog through September, declaring victory in October, breaking out the long sleeves in November, roasting marshmallows at the fire pit in December.

A new poll shows Mitt Romney's lock on Arizona in the presidential race is slipping away.

The Republican nominee leads President Obama by just 3 points in the PurplePoll released Friday by Purple Strategies, a bipartisan public affairs firm. Among Purple Strategies' principals are Alex Castellanos, a former Romney adviser.

The survey shows Romney leading Obama in Arizona by 48 percent to 45 percent, with a wider advantage among independents, 47 percent to 42 percent. Obama is up 30 points among Hispanics, 58 percent to 28 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The favorability ratings for both candidates are under water -- Obama's unfavorables are four points higher than his favorables; Romneys are three points higher. (The poll's Arizona results are spread throughout the full survey report. Check pages 1, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16.)

The polling was done by automated calls on Sept. 15 through 19, as Romney's so-called "47 percent" video made national news.

Doug Usher, managing director for research at Purple Strategies, says the survey shows that Arizona is in play in the presidential race, but that does not mean Obama should spend campaign money here.

"The way to win Arizona for Obama is not to focus on Arizona," Usher said in an interview.

"It's to focus on other states.... Every state moves on national trends. States that are outliers (like Arizona) become part of the conversation."

In the first public poll of the Maricopa County sheriff's race, Democratic candidate Paul Penzone trails five-term sheriff Joe Arpaio by less than 6 points, according to the survey commissioned by the Penzone campaign.

The poll, released Wednesday, shows Arpaio with support from 44.5 percent of voters; Penzone, a former Phoenix police officer, with support from 39 percent; and independent Mike Stauffer, a retiring Scottsdale cop, backed by 8 percent.

Penzone disclosed the poll Wednesday during a joint interview with Stauffer before the Arizona Republic editorial board. Both are seeking the board's endorsement. Arpaio did not appear.

Stauffer said he had no polls of his own to contradict the Penzone survey.

An Arpaio campaign spokesman provided this statement:

"Team Penzone continues to deceive the public about this race. Whether it's his 'big TV buys' that never materialize or now inventing polling numbers, it's clear Penzone is desperate for attention. His latest poll shows only about 9 percent are undecided in a race that includes two candidates that virtually no one has ever heard of. Really?"

The poll appears to overweight the percentage of Democrats and Republicans in Maricopa County. County voter registration totals show 38 percent Republican; 28 percent Democrat; and 34 percent independent.

The poll results highlight what many political analysts have been saying for months: Arpaio is virtually a lock to win a three-person race. Not only does the 80-year-old sheriff have a more than 10-to-1 fundraising advantage over Penzone, but his built-in base from 20 years in office should assure him enough support to defeat two challengers.

Schweikert has tried to frame the Galilee story as of a piece with TheDirtyScottsdale.com story that plagued Quayle in his 2010 run for Congress.

It's a reach. A big reach. Schweikert, who was on the same Israel trip, left the dinner early with his wife "when the drinking started." He says he never saw any frolicking. Never noticed Quayle at the dinner. And he claims he was told nothing about what happened in the Galilee afterward.

On that point, Congressmen Quayle and Schweikert agreed when I spoke to them Monday. It seems congressmen don't gossip amongst themselves the way the rest of us do.

Both men said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's dressing down of the GOP delegation the day after the night before never mentioned what happened the night before. Quayle said Cantor was "vague." Schweikert described the remarks as "ethereal."

Both Quayle and Schweikert say they themselves had no inkling that some of their fellow congressmen had been frolicking in the Sea of Galilee. Quayle maintains that his DC condo-mate, Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder -- that Kevin Yoder, the guy who went skinny dipping in water Jesus walked on -- never once mentioned the incident during the last year.

What happen in the Galilee, stays in the Galilee. Until it it dribbles out days before a primary.

One note on the original Politico story: The FBI "investigation" of the skinny dipping doesn't appear to have been an investigation of the skinny dipping.

Democrat Andrei Cherny is coming under fire in his CD9 congressional race from a new Super PAC founded by two Phoenix lobbyists.

Restoring Arizona's Integrity was started by Genevra Richardson and Jeremy Browning, lobbyists at GovGroupAZ, which shares the same address as the IE, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

FEC records show Richardson has donated $1,000 to former State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Cherny primary opponent. Richardson was also listed as a host at a June fund-raiser for Sinema.

Under federal law, Super PACs can spend an unlimited amount of money on a campaign but can't donate money to a candidate or coordinate spending with a candidate.

Restoring Arizona's Integrity spent $16,000 on a mailer targeting Cherny that hit mailboxes this past weekend as voters got their early ballots. The mailer compared Cherny to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

This video bashing Cherny as a Gingrich clone is expected to air soon, according to a spokeswoman for the Super PAC.

Stacy Pearson, who returned messages left for Richardson, said the Super PAC was still coming up with a media plan. Pearson says the PAC was backed by a "handful" of "committed Democrats that wanted to elect the best candidate."

Pearson said the Super PAC will also spend money in Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick's primary in CD1.

Wil Cardon was willing to spend almost $1 million last month to beat Congressman Jeff Flake.

This week -- a critical week to win votes in their GOP primary for the U.S. Senate -- the job's worth just $15,000 to Cardon.

The sudden stall in media spending by Cardon -- who's bankrolled a $7 million campaign -- is the clearest indicator that he views Flake's double-digit lead in the polls as insurmountable with just 21 days to go till the primary.

Figures on media buys obtained by 12 News show Cardon wrote checks for $988,158 in TV and radio buys in the month of July, leading up to the mailing of early ballots Aug. 2.

This week, with early ballots in voters' hands, Cardon's media buys have dropped off the cliff -- just $15,547 in spending. In July, Cardon was spending $32,000 a day.

The dropoff is all the more striking because Republican voters in Arizona tend to return their early ballots early -- up to 70 percent of the ballots before primary day, the majority of those in the first week after they get the ballots.

A consultant for the Cardon campaign tweeted this photo Tuesday of Cardon apparently taping a TV ad, attempting to rebut reports that Cardon had stopped spending money. The media buy numbers indicate Cardon will spend an average of $34,000 a week this month.

A Cardon campaign spokeswoman said the campaign does not discuss its spending plans.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is launching his TV ad campaign Wednesday for a sixth term in office by showing voters who he was before his election as sheriff 20 years ago.

The new TV commercial, with the tagline, "It's time you met the real Joe Arpaio," tries to reintroduce a politician whom many voters would say they know too well. Click here to watch it.

The question is whether the ad's sepia-tinted portrayal of the young Joe Arpaio as a heroic law enforcement officer can change many voters' impression of an 80-year-old sheriff identified with racial-profiling lawsuits, immigration sweeps, pink underwear and baloney sandwiches. The ad will certainly bind Arpaio more closely to his most ardent supporters.

An Arpaio campaign spokesman said the ad begins airing Wednesday on Cox Cable and DirectTV, on cable networks such as Fox, History Channel and USA. The first ad buy is for three weeks and cost $125,000. Spokesman Brian Murray says the ad will eventually appear on local broadcast stations and will run through Election Day.

Democrats Paul Penzone and John Rowan are running in the Democratic primary for sheriff on Aug. 28. Independent candidiate Mike Stauffer will be on the ballot in the general election. Arpaio faces no Republican opposition.

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